Wire-stretcher.



No. 785,131. PATENTED MAR. 21, 1905. M. F. VARNUM.,

WIRE STRETGHER.

APPLIOATIOR FILED JUNE 22, 1904.

Attornegs Patented March 21, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

MARCUS 'F. VARNUM, OF AMORITA, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.

WlRE-STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 785,131, dated March 21, 1905.

Application filed June 22. 1904. Serial No. 213,706.

T 0 (Li/Z whom, it Duty concern.-

Be it known that I, MARCUS F. VARNUM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Amorita, in the county of Woods, Oklahoma Territory, have invented a new and useful Wire- Stretcher, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices employed for stretching wire, more particularly for use in building wire fences and for similarpurposes, and has for its object to simplify and improve the construction and produce a device of this character inexpensive to manufacture, strong and durable, and easily applied and efiicient in action.

With these and other objects in view, which will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in certain novel features of construction, as hereinafter fully described and claimed.

1n the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which corresponding parts are denoted by like designating characters, is illustrated the preferred form of the embodiment of the invention capable of carrying the same into practical operation, it being understood that the invention is not necessarily limited thereto, as various changes in the shape, proportions, and general assemblage of the parts may be resorted to without departing from the principle of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages, and the right is therefore reserved of making all the changes and modifications which fairly fall within the scope of the invention and the claims made therefor.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan View, and Fig. 2 is a side view, of the device applied. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of the ratchet mechanism. v

The improved device comprises two arms 10 11, spaced apart and having means at one end, such as apertures, to receive a holding-chain 12 for attachment to a stationary support, such as a fence-post 13, and with a winding-shaft 14 mounted for rotation in their other ends.

Connected to one of the bearings of the shaft 14 is a ratchet-wheel 15, and pivoted at 16 to the arm 11 is a backing or check pawl 17 for holding the ratchet from backward movement,

the check-pawl controlled by a spring 18, as shown. An operating-lever 19 is provided for the ratchet-wheel and carries an integral when the lever is allowed to assume a horizontal position or the position shown in Fig. 2 said lever will fall by gravity until the pointed end of the pawl engages one or other of the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, and at the same time the angular relation of the slots and bifurcated arms to the pawl will result in the pawl being drawn inward until it is firmly engaged at the root of the tooth and in the best position for exerting the operative force.- Any strain exerted in an upward direction on the lever when the latter is in the position shown in Fig. 2 will cause the pawl to bind between the teeth to an extent proportionate to the degree of force exerted, so that there will be no danger whatever of the pawl slipping from position during operative movement; but on reverse movement the pawl will slide readily over the teeth in order to gain a fresh hold on the ratchet-wheel. By this simple arrangement when the lever is drawn forward for the operative stroke the slots 23 2 1 will permit the pawl-tooth 20 to engage one of the teeth of the ratchet and carry the latter around with it, and then at the return stroke the slots will permit the pawl tooth to recede from the ratchet-teeth and pass over them without acting on them. The whole action is simple and natural and requires no forcible movements of the lever by the operator to cause ratchet. v

In operating the device the wire to be stretched (represented at 25) is coupled to a suitable clamp, as shown at 26, and the clamp it to be engaged with or disengaged from the connected to the winding-shaft 14:, as by a chain or cable 27 Then as the lever 19 .is ac- The parts will preferably be of cast-steel or malleable iron and may be of any desired size or suitable strength.

It will be noted that a simply-constructed, powerful, and eflicient stretching device is produced, by means of which the fence or other wires may be tightly strained and the device moved from place to place as required and adjusted to any desired locality.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is In a device of the class described, the combination with a pair of spaced arms, of a flexible member connecting the arms and adapted to embrace a post or similar support, a winding-d rum having reduced end portions extending through openings in the opposite ends of the arms and serving as a connecting means therefor, means for connecting the Windingdrum to the wire to be stretched, a ratchetwheel rigidly secured to one of the extended end portions of the drum, an operating-lever bifurcated at one end to form a pair of arms that straddle the ratchet-wheel, said arms being provided with elongated slots disposed at an obtuse angle to the general plane of the operating-lever, and through whichslots the end portion of the winding-drum passes, an integral pawl formed at the point of bifurcation of the arms, the relation of the shaft, the slots and the pawl, with respect to the teeth of the ratchet-wheel being such that both ends of the slot are distant from the end portion of the winding-drum when the pawl is in engagement with one of the ratchet-teeth, thereby forming a cam which forces the pawl against the tooth to an extent proportioned to the degree of force exerted on the lever, and a pivotally-mounted retaining-pawl carried by one of the arms and arranged to engage the ratchet-wheel.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

MARCUS F. VARNUM.

\Vitnesses:

W. H. WILLHoUR, J. D. HOWARD. 

